I have had reflux alongside my asthma since I was a small child. I now take top doses of all my anti reflux meds, sorry to hijack your thread but sometimes during the night I wake up having aspirated a little and cough up stomach acid from my chest, usually it wakes me up cause my throat is burning from refluxing so usually its just from the top of my lungs. Can the acid damage your lungs?

I respond to this question from 2 perspectives: as a clinical nutritionist, and as the parent of a chronic asthmatic who also has GERD.
Acid reflux (known as GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease), can most definitely trigger or worsen asthma symptoms.
According to National Jewish Health, ranked the #1 respiratory hospital in the US by US News & Word Report:
“Gastroesophageal reflux, or GERD, occurs when the acidic contents of the stomach flow back up into the esophagus. This stimulates a reflex that may cause asthma to worsen. Symptoms of heartburn and breathing difficulty at night can indicate GERD.”
http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/conditions/asthma/associated-conditions/index.aspx

The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NIDDC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) states:
“Studies have shown that GERD may worsen or contribute to asthma, chronic cough, and pulmonary fibrosis."
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/

Controlling GERD is an important part of asthma management.
In addition to the medication(s) prescribed by your doctor, there are diet and lifestyle
factors you can utilize to help manage your symptoms.
These are addressed well at the following links:
http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/conditions/gerd/lifestyle-management.aspx
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/#5
http://www.heartburnalliance.org/
For a an opinion on complementary, alternative approaches to management, see Dr. Andrew Weil’s website:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00678/GERD-gastroesophageal-reflux-disease.html

It is important to remember that even with all of the information available on GERD and asthma, offending foods and effective management techniques may vary on an individual basis. Learning about yourself and how different foods affect your reflux and asthma symptoms will help you achieve better health. A Registered Dietitan can provide valuable guidance and support towards this goal.

Lynn M. Blocker MA, RD, CDN

Have you seen a pulmonologist who specializes in asthma? They can assess and monitor your pulmonary function in ways your PCP is not prepared to do. If your albuterol relieves your acute asthma symptoms by dilating (opening up) your airways, then it does confirm that you are experiencing an asthma flare-up. However, the GERD may be one of the factors contributing to that flare-up. It is not always easy to separate or "differentiate" the two when symptoms may be a result of the interaction of both asthma & GERD. You should see a pulmonologist to get a thorough asthma evaluation and care plan.

Thank you sally for your reply, I do indeed sleep upright though sometimes end up flatter than usual. I try not to eat 4-5 hours before bed. I have seen GI specialists in the past and have had endoscopies perfromed which showed oesophagitis (that was aged 16 I dread to think what state my osephagus could be in now aged 25). I also have a very large hiatus hernia seen on chest CTs and sometimes blamed for the pneumonias I get my doctors dont really take any notice of this which is quite annoying!

Thankfully my respiratory consultant has recently referred me to a specialist centre for the 2nd time, I hope to get some answers this time and not be fobbed off with 'oh you have severe asthma what do you want us to do about it' I know my GERD makes my chest worse and my constant infected sinuses are to blame for my constant chest infections. I am on top whack of all my meds including subcut turbutaline infusion and 60mg of pred, which has not gone lower then 50mg this year.

This thread has been very helpful!

I spoke with my asthma doc about my acid reflux issue and, yes, it's part of the big picture, as Dr. Wenzel mentioned.

Clare, I also get sinus infections. I go to my PCP who gives me antibiotics, but the infections come back. This time I talked to my asthma doc who gave me a different treatment to try before antibiotics. If you're interested, let me know...maybe it's something you haven't tried.

Thankfully, I haven't had pneumonia for a while, but whenever I've had it, it's always been after the flu or a bad viral infection. It didn't take me very long to learn the value of flu shots. My asthma doc knows about my history of getting pneumonia and has taught me what signs to be aware of that could indicate pneumonia. I also let her know about viral infections early on because they tend to cause me problems.

Since I've been seeing an asthma doc, things have improved significantly and I'm learning a lot about factors that can affect my asthma. Before I never really knew what was affecting what because I always felt like crap. I still have much to learn, but I'm learning. I really appreciate all the insight from everybody who's posting on this thread.